8 Jul 2007

IT SHOULD help to avoid some of the scrapes that have become an annoying feature of modern motoring. Engineers are designing a device that will enable cars to steer themselves into a garage.

As manufacturers sell ever wider and longer cars, many garages have become too tight a fit and the car’s bodywork can be ruined by a moment’s inattention.

Now BMW engineers are working on remote park assist – a system operated by a button on the keyring. A prototype has been successfully tested and the company predicts that it will become a popular option.

It uses a small reflector, placed in the middle of the farside garage wall. As the car parks itself, the on-board computer calculates the vehicle’s position in relation to the reflector.

A tiny video camera mounted near the front windcreen monitors the position of the reflector and constantly relays it to the computer. The system is supplemented by parking distance control sensors, which determine the car’s distance from possible obstacles.

Once the car has been left in front of the garage, the driver activates the auto-park function by clicking the central locking button on his keyring twice in quick succession. At this point the car shifts into drive mode and starts to move forward at about 2mph.

“You don’t have to park straight in front of the garage, but the camera must be able to see the reflector,” said Dirk Wisselmann, the manager of BMW’s research and technology department.

“If a child left a bicycle in the path of the car, or the car was too close to the garage entrance, then it would stop almost immediately.”

The system will also reverse the car out of the garage, which avoids drivers having to squeeze themselves into the car or risk banging the door against the wall as they try to lever themselves out of the driver’s seat.

Many private garages were built in an era when the typical car was significantly shorter and narrower than today, with popular models such as the diminutive Hillman Imp, Mini and Riley Elf.

BMW’s new Mini – with a width of 5ft 5in – is 10in wider than the classic 1960s version. The new BMW 7 Series, used to test remote park assist, is 4in wider than its 1977 launch model, which measured 5ft 11in.

The latest model of the VW Golf, the Mark V, is significantly bigger than the classic MarkI version launched three decades ago. It is 1ft 7in longer, 5in wider and 3½in higher.

One of the reasons for the growth in the size of cars is consumer demand for extra features such as air conditioning, elaborate hi-fi systems and more generous leg and shoulder room.

More stringent safety regulations have also contributed to the bulking up in car size, with the need for larger crumple zones and side impact bars.

“Customers want cars that are safer and more comfortable than ever before,” said Nigel Wonna-cott, spokesman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. “This all adds size and as a result a supermini now is probably the same size as a small family car from 20 years ago.”

The legal width for a parking space set out in traffic regulations is, at less than 5ft 11in, considerably narrower than many cars. This is also the standard width used as the basis for designing a garage.

One of the reasons for the new BMW system is concern at the rising number of insurance claims from drivers who have bashed their vehicles while parking them in garages often already cluttered with bicycles, surfboards and the like.

Stuart Wartalski, from Endsleigh Insurance, said: “It’s an innovative idea and we certainly get a number of claims every year from bad parkers.

“We’ll have to look at it very carefully from an insurance perspective and what happens if your car effectively has an accident without you in it.”

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